Thoughts about this weekend

As I sat at O'Blarney's, a local Olympia pub, drinking a brew after refing (first timer) the firefighter and police officer basketball game named Fire and Ice, I conversed with my friend about how the University of Washington was slowly turning into a basketball school rather than a football school. I know this can be a touchy subject to the football faithful that bleed purple and gold, but if 2009-2010 is supposed to be a year of change, then Husky fans need to look in the mirror and accept the change from football to basketball.

Here are some of my thoughts about that issue:

For one, not many schools can make that transition between dominant sports. My friend named me that when you think of Texas, you think of football, however, Texas had a good basketball program and a good baseball team as well. I begged to differ. Texas may have a good bball team, but their football team is good year in and year out.

There are schools that will always be more dominant in one sport than the other, but consider this. Of all the "football schools" none have made the ultimate switch like UW. Florida won back to back Final Fours, but their football squad is just as good, if not better. And where is their basketball program now?

There aren't any college programs that have nose dived in one sport and sky rocketed in another during the same span of years. When UW's football program was one prevalent, it's basketball team was in the middle of the Pac-10. And that was in the 80s and 90s. This is the 2000s. The last time UW football sniffed the top 10, it was 2001. And it's been a downward spiral ever since. Meanwhile, its basketball team has been building a steady program and have since been ranked in the top 25 more times than the football team.

Listen, I realize that football programs bring in the dough. But that shouldn't take away from the success Lorenzo Romar has brought to UW, something that the football program is still struggling to manage. While the basketball team has sent more athletes to the pros, the football team has been marred by terrible decision after terrible decision.

I am a biased writer because I prefer basketball over football, but barely. LoRo is a top-notch recruiter who can recruit in Seattle. Imagine that! A good program in a city that breads great ballers.

The tradition might be in Husky Stadium. But the talent is in Hec Ed. Why fight it? I'm not saying fans should abandon the football program by any means, but I believe UW is not a football school anymore. It's a basketball school.

It's a no brainer.

Let me reiterate, while some football schools have good basketball programs, their football programs are always good. In UWs terms, while the basketball program is quite possibly the best its ever been, the football team will have to, yet again, sit home and watch other Pac-10 teams play during bowl season.

Last night's game against San Jose State might not have been a blowout like everyone expected, but there is a stat that is most interesting. It's 30-15. That's the points and rebounds by Quincy Pondexter. That's one of the more dominant showings so far. If he stays healthy, along with the rest of the team, it will be scary good at how far this team can go.

I know many of you will disagree with me, but I'm just sayin'. UW = Basketball.